Common Sense
by Mustard Yellow Sunshine
Summary: Au. One-shot. Common sense told her exactly what to do in this situation. The problem was, he had a knack for blowing her common sense right out of the water.


**A/N** -- This is the edited version. Full version can be found here (remove spaces). -- http: // www. mediaminer. org/ fanfic/ view_ch. php/ 159075/ 557462#fic_c

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Kagome was a smart girl. She liked to think that she was a creature of common sense. Though she had her flaws and her passions, she liked to think that while encouraging those passions, she didn't let them rule her. She liked to think that, when all was said and done, she kept her head solidly on her shoulders and her feet firmly on the ground.

So as a smart girl, Kagome knew she should tell him to stop. She knew she should swat away the hand creeping up her skirt, knew she should be affronted by the fangs scraping against her neck, knew she shouldn't be making those pleading noises in the back of her throat. All logic and common sense pointed to the fact that this position – pushed up against her locker in the deserted halls of her school, with a boy of ill-repute pressing against her in the most intimate way possible – was highly inappropriate at best. And at worst? Well, those fingers toying with the lacy fringe of her panties was a pretty good indicator of what the worst could be.

Common sense told her exactly what to do in this situation. The problem was, he had a knack for blowing her common sense right out of the water.

The lips on her neck moved up to her ear, fangs teasing the lobe without mercy. The fingers burning a path up her thigh finally plunged into territory that no man but him had ever explored. His free hand fisted into the hair at the nape of her neck and firmly pulled her head back for better access to her skin. Her heart rate sped up, her breathing became shallow. Her common sense doggy-paddled in the tidal wave of heat drowning her senses, washing over her entire body, collecting in the pit of her stomach.

_Tell him to stop, tell him to stop, tell him to stop…_

"Inuyasha," she murmured, and gasped when he harshly nipped her ear in response. "Inuyasha… please…"

_Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop… _

"Don't stop."

_Well, damn._

His husky chuckle did away with the last of her precarious friend, common sense.

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"I want you."

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"Because… because I…"

"Because you're scared."

"I'm not! I just don't think we should --"

"That's your problem, Kagome. You think too much."

"And you don't think enough."

"I think plenty. Like now. I'm thinking I want you. And I _know_ you want me."

"How do you figure?"

He leaned in, nipped at her bottom lip. "Half demon. I can smell you, remember?"

"We shouldn't."

"You want to."

She didn't deny it.

"Come with me. Sesshomaru's gone. We'll have the house to ourselves."

She found she had a difficult time answering him when his tongue was in her mouth.

"C'mon," he coaxed against her lips, his hands squeezing her hips. "You won't regret it."

She went.

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The problem was, whenever they were alone, they somehow ended up kissing.

She wasn't sure when it started. They'd been friends for years, had known each other even longer. They grew up in the same town, went to the same schools. They interacted very little initially, but she grew up hearing stories about him. Stories about his mother's death, about the terrible things he had supposedly done, about the kind of people he associated with. It wasn't just the kids at school who talked about him, it was everyone. People called him horrible things – half-breed, monster, abomination. She hated it. Even when she was a child, she hated them for saying those things. She felt for him before she even knew him, and admired his strength to withstand before she even spoke to him.

Their friendship had a rocky start. She didn't like his arrogance, he didn't like her stubbornness. She didn't like his harshness, he didn't like her misplaced optimism. She didn't like his temper, and he didn't like hers. But time passed, and as it did it found a way of pushing them together. Every time they came into contact with each other, they uncovered a new layer of the other that they had never before seen.

She came to learn that his arrogance wasn't arrogance at all, but pride, and as battered and bruised as it may have been, she admired him – admired him _so much_ – for managing to hold onto it through all the hate and prejudice surrounding him. He came to see her stubbornness as tenacity, a determination to see her goals through to the end. She slowly realized that underneath his jagged, harsh exterior lay a wealth of kindness and a heart of such depth that she knew, somehow, that he would always surprise her with it. It was perhaps this part of him that began to treasure her happiness and optimism.

As for their respective tempers – that was something they both still hated.

Somehow, they made it work. They developed a friendship. And yet it wasn't really a friendship, at least not to her. Words were too constricting, language didn't cut it. "Friendship" never adequately described what they had. Their relationship was less than friendship and it was more, so much more.

Somewhere along the way, in their friendship that wasn't a friendship, this had happened. Whenever they were alone, they found themselves kissing, touching, doing things that common sense dictated was wholly beyond the realm of "friendship". Yet it felt right, for them.

And it scared her. It scared her more than anything ever had.

She remembered the first time it happened, the crack that had broken the dam.

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"_Inuyasha…" _

"_Save it," he growled, shrugging her hand off his shoulder almost violently. _

"_Please, talk to me." _

"_Don't have a damn thing to talk about." _

"_You can't tell me you don't feel anything." _

_He sneered. "Well shit, Kagome, what do you think?" _

"_Inuyasha…" _

"_Kagome." His eyes met hers, and she thought for the first time that she didn't know the man she was looking at. "Don't. Just leave it." _

"_No." _

"_What?" _

"_No. I'm not going to 'leave it'. You deserve more than that." _

"_Fuck, Kagome!" He exploded, jumping up off her bed where he had been reclining against the wall. "You just don't know when to butt out, do you? Leave it alone!" _

_She stood, followed him to the window, which he was no doubt going to use as an escape route. "Yep. You're right. I'm nosy. But you've always known that. So you should know by now that screaming at me isn't going to work. Just talk to me." _

_He turned to face her, and the snarl on his lips almost jolted her. His voice was husky with repressed emotion. "Bitch, you're pushing your luck." _

"_I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I'm sorry about Kikyo." _

_He jerked back at the sound of her name as if Kagome had punched him. "Shut. Up." _

"_I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry she did it. I'm so sorry she left you this way." _

"_Shut the fuck up." His voice was quiet, almost calm, and far more threatening for it. His hands shot out, gripped her by her arms so tightly that his claws punctured her skin. She winced, but did nothing else. _

"_It wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. She was unhappy, Inuyasha. She was an unhappy soul, and it was the only way she saw out." _

"_Stop. Kagome, stop." His claws dug deeper. _

"_Inuyasha…" She ignored the pain in her arm, the blood soaking her sleeves, and lifted a hand to cup his cheek. "I'm so, so sorry." _

_His snarl came to a crescendo in his throat as his grip on her arms tightened. Red began seeping into his eyes, those golden eyes she adored. Then, before she knew it, he had shoved her away with enough force to send her sprawling on the floor, and he was gone. _

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_He came back the next night. It was well past midnight, nearing one o' clock. He came in through her window, like he always did. _

"_Kagome, I'm…" His head was bowed, she couldn't see his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't… I didn't mean to hurt you." _

"_You didn't," she assured him quietly as she slid off her bed and went to join him at the window. "You would never hurt me." _

"_Keh." A bitter sound, letting her know what he thought of that statement. _

_She stepped closer to him, half afraid he would retreat. When he didn't, she slipped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest. His entire body tensed. "Inuyasha. I hate that you're hurting. I… I wish I could help you." _

_He said nothing. He didn't hug her back. He didn't need to. His sigh, his cheek resting against her head told her all she needed to know. _

_Hours passed in silence, and it was alright because they were together. They moved to her bed, sat next to each other with their backs against the wall, their hands clasped between them. _

_She was the first to break the silence. "Inuyasha." _

_He grunted his acknowledgment. _

"_For what it's worth… I'll never leave you like that. As long as you want me around, I'll stay with you. I promise." _

_She had expected the long silence that followed. What she hadn't expected was the feeling of his fingers grasping her chin, of the same fingers tugging her towards a face she knew better than her own, of lips pressing against hers in a kiss so brief she thought she dreamt it… _

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Since then, nothing had been the same between them. The change was slow. Terribly slow. They didn't kiss again for quite some time afterwards. For months he still mourned Kikyo, still let misplaced guilt consume him. He still had days when he was so angry he wouldn't come anywhere near her, for fear, she supposed, that he might lash out at her again. But a year passed, and it began to wane, until she rarely saw that side of him anymore. His behavior towards her began changing, as if the intimacy unleashed in that kiss had freed a part of him. He had always been assertive in what he wanted (once he figured out what that was), but this newfound forwardness surprised even her.

Kagome was a smart girl. She knew she should tell him to stop. Inuyasha was her friend, her best friend, and she knew that she was his, too. But then, that word had never really described them, had it? Friends with benefits didn't apply. You had to be friends for that. And they were so much more.

It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. Inuyasha had always been able to push her buttons and test her boundaries like no one else. But this was so much worse. Now he was clouding her judgment, blurring the lines that common sense had drawn to create order out of the confusion. Now she didn't know which end was up or where their friendship ended.

Common sense told her to stop. It scared her that she didn't want to listen.

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His lips on hers, tongue caressing tongue, hands on her waist, dragging up her skin. Moans, panting, his breath as hot as hellfire.

Afterwards they lay together on his bed, overwhelmed by content silence that spoke so much more than words ever could. His fingers played with her hair, twirling a piece of it around his index finger. Her head rested on his shoulder, her arm thrown lazily across his waist. He tucked his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

"Kagome," he whispered hesitantly, as if unwilling to interrupt the quiet of the room.

"Mmhmm?" she murmured, distracted by his fingers in her hair and the sleep overtaking her mind.

"This… uh… what we, uh, well, what we just did…"

Now she was wide awake. She lifted her head. "Yes, Inuyasha?"

"It needs to be just between us." He winced at his choice of words, and she couldn't help but be slightly amused even through the trepidation crawling up her spine. He had never been terribly good with words. It was something she loved about him. "I meant, I like this. I like what we have. And I want it to just be you and me. Understand?"

She glanced up, met his eyes. She knew him, she knew him better than she knew herself, but she couldn't read him this time, couldn't translate what his eyes told her.

"… yes, Inuyasha," she said slowly, laying her head back down and closing her eyes. "I understand."

He squeezed her shoulders and she felt sick.

It was the only time she had ever lied to him.

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_Think, Kagome, think. Use that brain you're so convinced you have. He's your friend. He's your best friend. This thing? This fuck buddy thing? It needs to stop. Right now. It could jeopardize everything. All those years of friendship, all the ground you two have gained, everything. It could all be ruined. _

_But we're not fuck buddies. We're not just friends. We've never been just friends, have we? Even when he was dating Kikyo, there was always something else. And he said it himself, he said he wants it to be just the two of us. That… that has to mean something… _

_Yeah, it means he wants you to be _his_ private booty call. _

_No. That's not Inuyasha, you know him better than that. _

_Can't think. I can't think. _

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Angry. He was so very angry.

"What did you say?"

She tried to step back, to put some distance between them, but his fist around her elbow kept her in place like an iron shackle.

"I… I said I think we need some space."

"Space? _Space_? Are you _kidding_ me?"

"No." She jerked away from him with an angry frown. "We need space. I _want_ space. I want some time apart."

"For _what_?"

"To think!" She shouted, her frustration with her own confusion finally manifesting. "I can't think when you're around! I can't breathe! You make it so hard for me to think straight it's amazing I can even talk!"

He didn't appear to notice the backhanded compliment. He stepped towards her, and growled viciously when she retreated, though he didn't make another move. "To think about _what_? What's so confusing? What don't you fucking understand?"

"Everything! Everything's confusing! I don't understand anything about this, about _us_, and I'll never understand it if I don't get away from you long enough to breathe!"

He flinched and she wished she could take it back.

"'Get away' from me, huh?"

"That's not… I didn't mean it that way…"

His growl cut her off. The next thing she knew, he was standing so close to her that every puff of his breath blew across her cheeks. He grabbed her shoulders, yanked her closer. "You want space? Well guess what? _I_ don't. In fact, I want as little _space_ as possible." He smiled at her, and it was a bitter thing. "You forget how to keep a promise? What happened to staying with me?"

She opened her mouth, and found that words wouldn't come. He pulled her into his arms, held her to him fiercely. "Kagome, don't you know? Don't you get it?" She noticed, in a bemused way, that his arms were trembling. "I… I need you. I fucking _need_ you. If you don't get that by now, no amount of _thinking_ is going to get it through your skull!"

They stood for a moment, hearts hammering, unsure of each other. Exhaling slowly, Inuyasha released her and stepped away. She was surprised at how badly she wanted to pull him back.

"If you want space, you can have as much of it as you want," he said gruffly, eyes boring into hers with an intensity she couldn't remember ever seeing before. "But know this, Kagome. I won't backpedal, you understand? I won't go back to being your 'friend'. You're either with me, or you're not, and that's it."

She nodded. He reached out, kissed her roughly, and then he was gone.

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It wasn't until she had spent three days away from him that her common sense kicked back into gear.

She had her space. She didn't want it anymore.

He was her friend and he wasn't. He was her best friend and he was more. And that was okay. That made _sense_.

"_It needs to be just between us. I like what we have. And I want it to just be you and me."_

She understood now.

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The next day she went to his house. When he answered the door she almost leapt at him.

"Kagome… hey." He didn't look surprised to see her, though he did seem guarded.

"Inuyasha. I've been thinking."

"Have you?"

"Yep. And you know? I'm not confused anymore."

His eyes glinted, and he opened the door a little wider. "S'at so?"

"Mmhmm," she smiled at him and took a step closer. "I want you."

His smile was small, and slow in coming, but completely genuine, and all for her. "Can you say that again? I don't think I heard you."

She slapped at him playfully. He caught her hand and held it. "I said I want you, Inuyasha. I…" she glanced down, scuffed the toe of her sneaker against the wood of his porch. "I love you."

He actually looked shocked – for all of five seconds. Then she was in his arms, next to his heart, and she decided that space could screw itself. "How'd…" he gulped audibly, and laughed. "How'd you figure that out?"

"Easy. Common sense."

The rumble of his laughter in his chest echoed through her body. She shivered.

"Cold?" he asked, a hint of something she loved in his voice – something dark, something sweet, something solely Inuyasha.

She nodded.

He smirked, leaned his head down to kiss her slowly. "Want to come inside and warm up? I can think of a few things we could do…"

And she did.

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**A/N **

And so, my ducks, remember – love _can_ make perfect sense, and it isn't half as complicated as we often like to think it is.

(Though mayhap you shouldn't go looking for life lessons in fanfiction.)

I was experimenting with a couple of things in this – mostly playing with form, and the passage of time. I'd like to know if it came off alright. I also thought it would be interesting to play with Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship from a place a little different from the series. I think it's true, even in the series, that Inuyasha and Kagome aren't really just friends. They've never really been friends. In the beginning they disliked each other too much, and later on, once a relationship began developing, it was fairly obvious that there was something more than friendship going on underneath the surface. I wanted to try to bring that out, but in a different way – namely, through the question of what would happen if they ever did get physically involved (not necessarily sexually, just physically – kissing and the like), because it's not something that ever happens in the canon.

Anyway. That was the thought. But it's more or less a random oneshot. Let me know what you think.


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